KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said today he will challenge the Home Ministry’s ban against donning Bersih 4’s yellow T-shirts in court, even as he may land in the dock for alleged violation of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).

Speaking to the press after having his statement recorded at the Dang Wangi police district headquarters here, Azmin said he is being investigated on three separate offences under the assembly law: wearing the banned Bersih 4 T-shirt, bringing his underaged son to a rally and allegedly calling the Inspector-General of Police “barua Umno”, a Malay word meaning “stooge”.

“This is clearly a form of intimidation, harassment to the political leaders who are attempting to restore democratic rights.

“But I will be determined to fight for the people and I will not back down. Whatever I did was in accordance with the Federal Constitution and was done to restore democracy and the rights of the people,” the PKR deputy president said.

Azmin was accompanied by his lawyer who is also PKR vice-president N Surendran, who said they will initiate legal action to challenge the Home Ministry’s ban soon.

“We have the right to assemble and this right is provided to us under the Constitution. This investigation is therefor against the constitution and we will look into that angle as well,” Surendran told reporters outside the police station.

Just a day before the Bersih 4 gathering on August 29 and 30, the Home Ministry issued a nationwide ban on all items related to the mass demonstration, including its promotional materials and any item of clothing bearing the rally’s name as well as its signature yellow.

According to the federal gazette on the Attorney-General’s Chambers website, the ban was issued under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

Surendran said the team of lawyers representing the Selangor MB will now wait and see if the police would charge Azmin before deciding on the next course of action.

The 34-hour Bersih 4 rally that kicked off at 2pm on Saturday Aug 29 and ended at midnight Sunday Aug 30 drew tens of thousands of people into the streets downtown near Dataran Merdeka.

Simultaneous rallies were also held in Kuching, Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; but both ended prematurely.

The rally was held to demand reform following exposes of alleged corruption personally involving Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.